Rita Pearl
Rita Pearl is a character on Plagued created August 21st, 2011, by Devin . Personality Rita has always been the silent type. She would much rather do something then talk about it. Talking has never been her strong point, and usually results in her either thinking far to deeply about something until she nearly drives herself insane from it, or speaking her mind without even thinking at all. This usually ends, more often then not, in an awkward moment for Rita so she just avoids talking and people when possible. Because of her loner tenancies, she doesn't have too many close friends. Those she does have are very close to her and she fights for them with her life, after all there isn't much else to fight for these days. On that note, if any friends she had have betrayed her trust, she can never really forgive them. This girl can hold a grudge if you fuck with her. She's stubborn to a point of annoyance to the average person: once she believes in something, there is little anyone can do to change her mind. This can range from politics to what she wants for dinner. Of course her stubbornness only kicks in when she isn't being apathetic about her surroundings. Although, since The Change (as she likes to call it), there hasn't been much emotion besides anger and despair. Rita hasn't changed much since when she was younger, if anything she has become harder, more closed off. She lost almost everything when the Infection happened, if it weren't for her little sister Leah, she would probably be far dead by now by a mix of depression and stupidity. Those who really know Rita though know that her walls are so thick and high because of how vulnerable she really is. While the hard world has made her stronger on the outside, it made her insides even more weak. When she isn't fighting for her life or helping New Haven she is often by herself with her old and tattered guitar that she takes with her when ever she leaves Safe Haven, and even when she's just sitting alone in her room. Whenever she can find a piano that is still working she will stay to play it as long as she possibly can, even if it's out of tune. So if you ever hear a slow mournful tune out in the wasteland you might have found one of Rita's sanctuaries. History Rita was born to Markus and Maya Pearl in the heart of Fort York. Her parents were once in love, but by the time Rita was old enough to notice, it had fizzled. They had started dating in High school and married in college. They were on their own most of their lives and had to work hard to even get by. When Rita was born they were happy, but work kept them from spending time with their child, instead forcing her into the care of their parents. It wasn't too much longer before they had another daughter, Leah. They were raised by her grandparents in the ghetto, but really they were in the care of each other. While they always had a home to go to they spent most of their free time on the street with the other children. Life was hard and even as kids Rita and her sister were faced with gang violence, often getting caught in the crossfire. Whenever Rita heard gun shots she would drop to the ground. If Leah was near by she would pull her younger sister down with her, and if Leah wasn't so close she would tackle her to the ground to make sure her sister was safe as well. It seemed normal though, she had never known anything else, it wasn't until one of her close friends was killed after being shot in the head while being caught in the middle of a gang fight that she finally got fed up. She refused to talk or have anything to do with anyone involved in gangs. This limited her to about 5 friends and by the time she had gotten into high school that had reduced to 2. When ever she was at school she always got picked on, either from just verbal teasing to even even physical pushing and shoving. At first she just took it, didn't let her bother her but as soon as they started pushing Leah around she began to fight back. Soon the shoving became full on fights, and before long Rita was getting into fights at least once a week. It wasn't until she was actually shot at and wound up in the hospital for two weeks that her parents actually stepped in and moved her and Leah to a private school. She was just as ostracized there as she was in the public school but for different reason. Her best friends became the piano that was in the music hall and her sister on the guitar with her beautiful voice. Eventually she discovered that the preppy school was not completely filled with snobby kids and she gained a few more friends... even fell in love with one. Although it wasn't until after school where she worked up the courage to actually say something. Elora was flattered and actually said she was willing to go out and see how things went. Rita had a tough decision between Criminal Justice and a music degree once she went to college, but in the end decided that she wanted to do something about the gangs she hated so much. Of course that didn't stop her from playing. She even formed a small band on the side; nothing major but they had a few gigs every once and a while, the other band members also had more economical majors so it worked out for everyone. Her junior year she was suddenly struck by what, at the time, was a tragedy--Elora had found someone else... a professor even. Rita almost beat him to a pulp when she saw them together, but controlled herself to just walking away and beating the shit out of a punching bag in the gym. She never spoke to Elora again, though not for her ex's lack of trying... Rita just ignored every call. Eventually the calls stopped... and Rita didn't feel any better, because after all...she still loved Elora. To get over Elora, Rita did what any good musician would do... she wrote a shit ton of songs about it. These songs were some of her most heartfelt and they helped the band score more gigs, but nothing large enough to get her to quit her goal of joining the police. So as soon as she graduated she started at the academy. There was something freeing about chasing down the bastards who used to shoot at her, and who had killed Freddy. Of course it was a double edged knife; the kids who she used to get in fights with were now higher up in the gangs and once they found out she was on the force... well, things got interesting. They made sure her life was a living hell whenever they met. Some even tried to frame her for beating one of them, causing her to be in court for almost a month, but she managed to get out of that with no penalties--except that they confined her to a desk for a year. She hated desk work, and although with her degree she probably could have risen up to become a detective, she didn't want that. She wasn't interested in finding out who murdered who, or how they were murdered... she wanted to stop it before it happened. Eventually she was able to convince them she would do better on the street then sitting behind a desk and they gave her another chance. She didn't have much time to prove herself because a month later Satan's horde hit the world. Rita was actually finishing up one of her rare band gigs at her favorite bar when she got the call. Now Rita never really believed in God, but looking back, she knew someone had helped her through that evening. First of all, Leah was still with her when her phone rang so she was able to keep her sister safe as she made her way to the station on her motorcycle. Secondly, the Overmind she ran into on the way there was much more interested in the drunk men trying to run on foot to give her but a look... the Lesser that was sent after her got kicked in the face as they flew past it. The station was one of the safer places in the city for the mere fact that it had many guns... most of them confiscated from various criminals, not to mention the officers' own weapons. Unfortunately they didn't have much of a clue what was going on except for one thing: head shoots worked the best. They held the station as long as they could, but it didn't take long for the military to come in and tell them they needed to evacuate, the city was lost. There was argument for a moment until a not so far off explosion told everyone they needed to leave or they would be next. All the citizens they had holed up in the station and all the officers made their way out of the city. They were constantly being attacked on all sides but some how, the majority of the group made it out of the city. Some Lessers followed them but they were able to pick them off. Eventually they met up with other survivors who had found a good holding ground... That place would later become Safe Haven. When raiding parties were sent out Rita went out with them to see the damages. The city was trashed... the few survivors they found were mistrustful and not many joined the Safe Haven group. On her first trip back to the city, she made sure to stop by the station, not only for any guns that might still be there... but for her bike, which by some miracle was still there. She road it back, laughing the whole way back as the wind blew through her hair. The next few months as Safe Haven began to grow with people Rita took her place as one of the guards who already was well trained in firearms. There were a few attacks but it seemed as if the spawn of Satan stayed more towards the city. Months passed and nothing seemed to change, and Rita started to get restless. She would leave Safe Haven only for the purpose of killing Lessers. She wanted her home back and it seemed like the 'Leaders' of Safe Haven just wanted to hole up in their false sanctuary. It wasn't too long after this that one of her fellow guards came to her with an interesting proposition: a group of people who wanted to fight back instead of just sitting here... that was when Rita joined New Haven and she hasn't looked back since. Category:Characters Category:Humans Category:Females Category:Active